The Wicked Prince

The driver stopped directly behind Aramis’s car and got down as I gathered my things. When he opened the door, Aramis looked at me and my heart did that little skip again. Dammit. Thankfully, David was meeting me here for a few days. That would take my mind off this weird situation I was facing. Falling for a member of the royal family would be stupid, falling for my boss would be disastrous, falling for the man who broke my heart all those years ago was unthinkable. As I walked over, I said hi to his mother with a kiss on each cheek.

“You look wonderful. When did you get sun? I haven’t seen it in months.”

“Sunless tan. It’s the best invention I’ve come across recently.” I smiled.

“I tried that once. I ended up looking like an orange.” She laughed as she started to walk. I glanced over at Aramis, who was just standing there, staring.

“Hey, Aramis.”

“Joslyn.” He gave a nod, looking at me from beneath those long, dark lashes of his as I passed him and followed behind his mother.

“I heard David is due for a visit,” his mother said. “That will be nice. Pilar, Ben, and you two can double date while he’s here. I wonder if you can get one of the bachelorettes on the list to join you with Aramis.”

“I’m sure I can make something work.”

“I’m standing right here you know?” Aramis’s voice cut through our conversation.

“Oh, love, you know it’s for your own good.” His mother smiled. “Let Joslyn help you.”

“Yeah, let me help.” I smiled over at him.

“If you’re so worried about my image, why don’t you go on a date with me, Joslyn?”

“I . . . what?” My heart stopped beating.

“Don’t listen to him. He knows we highly discourage staff from dating the family.

“Why?” Aramis seemed genuinely confused.

“It’s in the contract. To protect her and The Crown.” His mother was looking at him like he’d lost his marbles. I tried not to laugh. “There used to be a clause in the contract about it until Elias came along and did away with it.”

“There was a clause specifically forbidding our employees to date me?”

“Not just you. Anyone here.”

“Who wrote that in the contracts?” he asked.

“Your father. Years ago. Like I said, Elias did away with it, though I wish he hadn’t.” She waved him off. “I’m going to look for your brother and Adeline before I go walk the gardens. See you later, Joslyn.” She smiled and walked away as I waved and looked around.

Standing inside of Versailles was never going to be normal. It was too grand, too majestic, too much. It was one thing to visit during field trips at school, but being here as a guest was impossible to get used to. Adeline felt the same way and she was Queen now, so I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to standing here as a guest. The couple of times I’d stayed here had been in the guest cottages on the premises, which was where I’d be staying again. It seemed that as much as everyone loved the gardens, no one really wanted to sleep inside of the palace. Some said it was haunted and I had to agree, even though I hadn’t personally seen anything.

“Did you know about the contract?” Aramis’s voice cut through my thoughts. I turned to him with a frown.

“What?”

“The contract. Did you know there was a clause that forbids you from dating a member of the family or a co-worker?”

“Yes. I mean, I signed the contract, Aramis.” I laughed, shaking my head. “It’s really not a big deal.”

“You don’t think so?”

“No. Why would I?” I shrugged a shoulder and started walking in the direction of the back doors, hoping I saw either Pilar or Adeline on my way there.

“They shouldn’t dictate what you do in your personal time.”

“Why does it matter to you?” I met his gaze. “You never cared about any of it before.”

“I didn’t know this before.”

“Why does it matter now?”

“It doesn’t. Not to me. But you should care.” His frown deepened.

“Well, I don’t. I wasn’t planning on dating anyone I work with.”

“But now you can’t even pretend to date me even if you wanted to.”

“That’s outrageous.” I laughed loudly. “Why would I want to pretend to date you?”

“It would kill two birds with one stone. We pretend to date, the paparazzi finally backs off, and the royal family reputation is salvaged.” He shrugged. “It’s a lot easier than finding a woman on that list of yours I’d actually be interested in.”

I stopped walking just before I reached the back doors, where I could see Pilar, Ben, Adeline, Elias, and his mother talking outside in the beginning of the gardens. Aramis stopped walking as well and turned to me as I faced him.

“Let me get this straight, you would rather pretend date me than find out whether or not you’re compatible with the women on the list I made you?”